Differences in circadian time structure of diastolic blood pressure between diabetes mellitus and essential hypertension

BACKGROUND: Abnormal circadian blood pressure patterns have been associated with cardiovascular disease in diabetes mellitus. We have described that the acrophase of diastolic blood pressure (DBP) registered in type 1 diabetes (T1D) patients was significantly earlier than normal and DBP ecphasia was more pronounced in patients with lower heart rate variability during deep breathing. The aim of this study was to compare the circadian rhythm characteristics of BP among different groups: normotensive (NT) control subjects, patients affected by T1D and type 2 diabetes (T2D), and patients with essential hypertension (HT). FINDINGS: We retrospectively evaluated ambulatory blood pressure monitoring records in 30 NT, 20 T1D, 20 T2D, 20 HT whose fasting plasma glucose and HbA1c were contemporaneously measured. The four groups were well-matched regarding age, gender, and BMI. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) and DBP midline-estimating statistic of rhythm were higher in T1D, T2D, and HT groups. DBP ecphasia was present only in the diabetic individuals: the acrophase of DBP occurred four hours earlier than normal in T1D group, whereas two hours earlier in T2D group. In a multiple regression analysis, only HbA1c and SBP acrophase were statistically significant correlates of DBP acrophase. CONCLUSIONS: People with diabetes mellitus, both type 1 and type 2, have their circadian acrophase of DBP occurring 2–4 hours earlier than normotensive and hypertensive subjects. Altered circadian timing of DBP, potential trigger of cardiovascular events, seems to be a distinguishing feature of diabetes mellitus and correlates with the previous 2–3 months of glycaemic control.